Danish inventors produce first amateur rocket designed to send humans into space (and one of them is going to test it out himself), Daily Mail

"It might not look much. In fact, it looks practically suicidal. But two Danish inventors hope to launch the world's first amateur-built rocket for human space travel. The homemade rocket is the brainchild of Danish firm Copenhagen Suborbitals, headed by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen."

Copenhagen Suborbitals

"Welcome to Copenhagen Suborbitals Our mission is very simple. We are working towards launching a human being into space. This is a non-profit suborbital space endeavor lead by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen, based entirely on sponsors and volunteers."

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Joins the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

"Mark Sirangelo, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, commented, "On behalf of the member companies of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, we are proud to welcome Southwest Research Institute as an Executive Member. Dr. Stern has done a tremendous job in pushing forward the nascent field of commercial suborbital science. We look forward to continue working with SwRI to further CSF's goals of promoting the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursuing ever higher levels of safety, and sharing best practices and expertise throughout the industry."

Environmental Tectonics Corporation's NASTAR Center Appoints Former NASA Science Mission Directorate as Advisor for Space and Research

"Environmental Tectonics Corporation's The National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR(R)) Center announced today that it has retained Dr. Alan Stern as an advisor for space and research related business including the Suborbital Scientist Training Program, which provides researchers and educators with training to perform experiments aboard suborbital vehicles."

ESA's Education Office is again offering European students the flights of a lifetime with the third call for proposals for the 'Fly your Thesis!' programme. This exciting programme enables university students to fly their experiments in microgravity in a series of parabolic flights on the Airbus A300 Zero-G aircraft.

"The Rocket Project: Over the course of the next few months, 8 students assisted, by Tom Atchison and the Rocket Mavericks team will attempt to design, launch and operate a rocket using new Sony® VAIO notebooks." More information

Environmental Tectonics Corporation's NASTAR Center announced today that it is the first entity to receive a Safety Approval from the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

Caption: Dr. Dan Durda, Principal Scientist, Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute. Courtesy Southwest Research Institute

As part of the next phase in advancing suborbital research opportunities and their own flight preparations, Southwest Research Institute researchers and suborbital payload specialists Dr. Alan Stern and Dr. Dan Durda have begun a new element of spaceflight training with a series of jet fighter flights in F-104 aircraft operated by Starfighters Inc. at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.